Roberto Rossellini

See also: the Saone

The the Saone is a river Is France whose name decides.

It takes its source with Vioménil with the foot of cliff of the Monts Sickles (department of the the Vosges) to 392 m of altitude and is thrown in the the Rhone with Lyon. It is a 480 km length river, whose Doubs is the principal affluent. Before the junction located at Verdun-on-the-Doubs in Saône-et-Loire, the Saone is called the small Saone, which shows well the strong contribution of the inhabitant of Franche-Compt3e river, whose interannual medium flow is slightly stronger (175 against 160 m ³ /s): some will conclueront some that the Saone is thrown in Doubs and not the reverse! In terms of size of catchment area, the Saone dominates with 11.500 km ² against 7.500 for Doubs.

The Saone east besides the first river of France by the size of its area catchment with 30.000 km ² in Lyon (either 1/18ème of the metropolitan territory!).

Its old name before the Roman world was Arar . It is the Indo-European doubling of the root rear = water, because, running out slowly, it is difficult sometimes to guess its direction (according to César, in the War of Gaules ). Its current name comes from a crowned source, Sauc- Onna , located at Chalon, whose name was given to the whole of the river by the Roman legionaries.

Departments and main cities crossed

Hydrology

The small Saone

The small Saone has a rain mode (sometimes influenced by snow) with a very strong oceanic influence. The grounds not very favourable with the infiltration, are quickly saturated and support the streaming. Very quickly the flow inflates, and as of after having received water of the Lanterne, the Saone became a powerful river.

The interannual medium flow or module of the Saone has been observed for 44 years (1964-2007) at the hydrological station of the Ray-on-Saone, locality located about thirty kilometers after the confluence of the Lantern, between the Port-on-Saone and Gray. It is of 59,7 m ³ a second for a surface of basin of 3  740 km ² (upstream reservoir of the small Saone), with an annual maximum of 64,5 and one minimum of 54,8.

The river presents seasonal fluctuations of flow to it, with winter risings from 84 to 108 m ³ from December to March included, and the thin ones of summer, in July - August-September, with a fall of the monthly medium flow up to 16,9 m ³ in August.

The Lame of water past in the upstream reservoir of the small Saone east of 505 millimetres annually (against 687 for the only Lantern), which is raised and results from a very abundant rainfall on the Vosgean part of its basin. The specific flow (Qsp) is assembled at 16,0 liters a second and per square kilometer of basin.

The recorded maximum instantaneous flow was of 930 m ³ a second on December 19th, 1982.

The large Saone

The large Saone is formed by the union of the Doubs and the Saone with Verdun-on-the-Doubs. Doubs brings there an interannual medium flow of 175 m ³ /seconde and the Saone 160 m ³.

The large Saone does not receive any more but from modest affluents which modify little the hydrological mode and in particular the risings. The large Saone runs out in vast and broad plain (up to 3 km broad) to the entry of Lyon, in the basin of the old lake bressan. The slope is very weak and without hydraulic installations aiming at guaranteeing until the north of Trawl-net a deep channel of navigation, the overflows would be more frequent.

At the hydrological station of Couzon-with-Mount-in Or at the entry of the Lyons agglomeration, the observations carried out of 1969 to 1986 showed an interannual medium flow of 473 m ³ /seconde, with a flow of centennial rising of 3  180 m ³. The Lame of past water for the totality of the catchment area of the river is of 501 millimetres and the specific Débit or Qsp is assembled at 15,8 liters a second and per square kilometer of the basin.

On the whole, medium flow in Lyon east of 475 m ³ /seconde with an in August minimum of 153 m ³ /seconde and an in February maximum of 954 m ³.

Navigation

The Saone is classified navigable since Corre in the north of the Haute-Saône, with the outlet of the Coney, to its confluence with the the Rhone in Mulatière, with Lyon, that is to say on 365 km, including 167 with large European gauge since Verdun-on-the-Doubs until Lyon.

It is connected to the the Loire by the Canal of the Center, with the Yonne by the Canal of Burgundy, with the Marne by the famous Canal of the Marne in the Saone Canal of Champagne in Burgundy, with the Meuse by the Canal of the East, connects southern famous Canal of the Vosges, and with the the Rhine by the Canal of the Rhone in the Rhine. All these channels are with the gauge Freycinet.

Navigable they also, are connected to it small the Canal of Pont-de-Vaux (3 km), the Seille, 40 km navigable until Louhans, and the lower part of the Doubs. All three are in cul-de-sac.

Believed historical

The risings do not have the same characteristics on the linear one. Thus, a very strong rising in flow on the upstream could attenuate very well in the plain bressane and be rather ordinary in Mâcon, especially if it carts moderate volumes of water. On the contrary, an average rising on the small Saone can be transformed into important rising on the downstream, for little that Doubs contributes an equal and quasi simultaneous share.

  • the rising of 580 with Lyon

  • the rising of November 1840, with a flow estimated at nearly 4000 m3/s, destroyed many dwellings along the valley of the Saone. Many plates marking this sad record are still visible in the touched villages. The heights of water measured on rising scales reached 8,05 m with Mâcon and 7,28 m with Chalon (either more than 6 m and 5,5 m above the normal level!)
  • strongest the 50 last years risings: January 1955, March 1970, December 1981 and 1982, May 1983, March 2001 and 2006.

  • the rising of reference in the documents of town planning is that of 1955. However, the rising of 1983 was measured 7 cm higher with Chalon than in 1955 (and 37 cm lower than the rising of 1840). In Mâcon, the level was 1,1 m lower than in 1840, and 30 cm higher than in 1983.

Principal affluents

RD for Right Bank, RG for left bank

References

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